The Peel-Harvey Catchment Council has been successful in securing $20,000 through the state Government’s new Local Projects, Local Jobs Program. This funding, allocated through the Peel Development Commission, will contribute to a larger PHCC project of international importance.

The McGowan Government has delivered on its election promise to fund Peel-Harvey Catchment Council on projects in catchment management. A recent announcement to commit funds for the Local Projects, Local Jobs Program will provide a much needed boost to the Peel-Yalgorup “Saltmarshes of Ramsar 482: Understanding our Peel-Yalgorup Ramsar Values” project.

The 26,500 hectare Peel-Yalgorup wetland system, including the estuary and lakes in the Yalgorup National Park, are wetlands of international importance under the Ramsar Convention. The saltmarshes of this system are also a federally-listed threatened ecological community (TEC). It is important to monitor these features of the wetlands to protect them for future generations to enjoy.

Saltmarshes play a critical role in food webs and contain many different types of plants and animals including crustaceans, molluscs, worms and insects that form an important part of the diet of birds including species that migrate from the northern hemisphere during our summer. Vegetation around the saltmarshes also provide important habitat for these birds and other native fauna.

This additional funding will enable botanical surveys at 18 sites throughout the wetland system, measuring the extent and composition of vegetation, with a focus on saltmarshes, using aerial monitoring and ground-truthing. This work will build on a preliminary survey by PHCC funded by the Australian Government though the National Landcare Program. The field-based botanical surveys will commence in October 2017. Results from the survey will be available as a final report through the Peel-Harvey Catchment Council.

The PHCC will deliver this project and share the report with federal, state and local Government departments as well as the Peel-Yalgorup System Ramsar Technical Advisory Group. The results of the project will also be communicated to the local community through field days and workshops.

According to the Chairperson of PHCC, Andy Gulliver “The funds will enable a more detailed assessment of the saltmarshes and other vegetation in the Ramsar site and give us a benchmark against which we can measure how we are doing in protecting these irreplaceable natural assets.”

The Peel-Harvey Catchment Council would like to acknowledge that funding for this project was made possible through the Peel Development Commission, the Australian Government and the Government of Western Australia.